


Gnōthi Sauton

by gardnerhill



Category: Elementary (TV), Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Community: watsons_woes, Gen, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-06
Updated: 2013-07-06
Packaged: 2017-12-17 20:39:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/871747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardnerhill/pseuds/gardnerhill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Watson gets around.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gnōthi Sauton

**Author's Note:**

> For JWP 2013 Prompt #5: **'Three Continents Watson.'** :  We know that two of them are Europe and Asia. But what is the third, and why was Watson there? Tell us!
> 
> Warning: The title is Greek, and it's a terrible pun.

“What was his name?”

Joan almost dropped her book ( _The Principles of Private Detection_ by Clovis Anderson), and took several breaths. “Do you  know how much money you could make on the mind-reader circuit?”

“Millions, people are idiots,” Sherlock responded with a  dismissive hand-wave over the row of human teeth he was lining up on the table out of their natural order in the mouth (canines don’t go before incisors or molars…ah, he was doing it alphabetically). “It was a simple matter of tracking your reactions and how you deal with information.” He tilted his head in her direction, eyes inviting and brows arched.

Pop quiz for the firm’s new partner. But he was right, simplicity itself. Joan exhaled. “I looked at that sweater you were wearing – I haven’t seen this one before. It triggered a memory, and I smiled at the memory. And you’re going to say I smile a certain way when I’m remembering my past –”

“Paramours?”

“Boyfriends,” Joan corrected, face heating. “Well…okay, this was more of a one-nighter than a boyfriend-boyfriend. Even though it was longer than one night. Any difference in my smile?”

“Surprisingly, no,” Sherlock responded, ignoring the sarcasm. “It’s a good memory. Did he wear a jumper that looked like this?”

Jumper? Oh, sweater. Her new occupation involved learning a new dialect as well. Joan set down the book. “When he was off-duty. He was busy and so was I. It was September 2001 – he was part of an anti-terrorist squad on loan from Great Britain and I was a brand-new surgeon with lots to do in the aftermath.”

“So, just about the time Captain Gregson and I were becoming acquainted in London,” Sherlock said. “I take it the relationship, such as it was, ended when his squad was recalled.”

Joan nodded. “I think he went over to Afghanistan. Haven’t heard from him since. I hope he got out okay.”

Sherlock nodded. “And his name?”

Joan laughed. “That was how it started! We joked about the coincidence. But it is a very common name, so it’s not that odd.”

Sherlock pursed his lips and went back to his teeth. “Who knows just how odd that meeting truly was?”

***

The question came out of the blue while John helped his flatmate catalog women’s shoes.

“American, was she? What was her name?”

John almost dropped the high-heeled boot he held.


End file.
